HAYS, Kan. -- Washburn trailed by just two at halftime but could not keep up offensively in the second half against No. 19 Fort Hays State falling 70-45. The Ichabods take on Nebraska-Kearney at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27 in Kearney.
The Tigers (15-3, 9-3 MIAA) jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first 2:30 of the game before Yiibari Nwidadah got Washburn (11-7, 6-6 MIAA) on the board with 6:45 to play in the first half. Fort Hays State forced the Ichabods into five turnovers in the quarter leading to seven points in the quarter and a 20-5 lead at the 2:06 mark in the quarter. Washburn was able to finish the half on a 7-0 run to pull within single digits.
Both offenses got off to slow starts in the second quarter with the Ichabods outscoring the Tigers 6-2 in the first five minutes. The run continued with Aubree Dewey scoring seven straight points for Washburn to tie the game with 17 seconds left in the quarter. Fort Hays State was able to score in the final seconds to take a 30-28 lead into halftime.
Dewey got to the rim for a layup at the 8:03 mark in the third quarter after FHSU came out of halftime on a 7-0 run but it would be the last field goal of the quarter for the Ichabods. Fort Hays shot 8-17 in the quarter and turned Washburn over six times to lead 52-31 going into the fourth.
Neither team scored for the first two minutes of the fourth quarter with Washburn getting its first basket from Amaya Davison with 5:30 left. The Tigers shot 7-12 in the quarter and pushed the lead to as many as 28 points before winning 70-45.
For the game the Ichabods shot 17-51 while going just 2-18 from behind the arc while Fort Hays State shot 25-63 (39.7%) and were 14-16 from the free throw line. Washburn turned the ball over 20 times leading to 19 points for FHSU while the Ichabods scored just seven off 11 giveaways by the Tigers.
Aubree Dewey led all players with 20 points on 8-20 shooting along with three steals. Aniah Wayne and Amaya Davison each scored seven points.
Fort Hays State had three double digit scorers led by Katie Wagner with a 16 point and 11 rebound double double. Emma Ruddle had 13 and Olivia Hollenbeck added 12.
